


Through Her Stomach

by MirrorMystic



Category: Fire Emblem Echoes: Mou Hitori no Eiyuu Ou | Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
Genre: Dragonflight Verse, F/F, Five Plus One, Fluff, Polyamory, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:22:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23569768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MirrorMystic/pseuds/MirrorMystic
Summary: Five times Faye used cooking to connect with her friends, and one time they returned the favor.
Relationships: Anthiese | Celica/Efi | Faye, Efi | Faye/Silque
Comments: 8
Kudos: 18





	Through Her Stomach

**Author's Note:**

> Be sure to check out [Dragonflight](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14770823/chapters/34160279) for more post-canon fluff, friendship, and flirting (with maybe a little more plot than this fic). I hope you all enjoy the read!
> 
> Follow me on Twitter at @mystic_writes !

~*~   
  
Faye had always been an early riser.    
  
Back in Ram, she’d always be up at the crack of dawn, pulling on her boots and her cloak and doing her daily rounds in Fleecer’s Forest. She would pick some herbs, check and reset her snares, and with luck, by sunrise she’d already be back at home getting breakfast ready, with a brace of wild rabbit waiting for that night’s dinner.    
  
In the years since, though… well, Faye’s gotten spoiled. Because here she was, at well past sunrise, still in no hurry to get out of bed.    
  
Silque had a little cottage in a nameless mountain village a stone’s throw from Zofia Castle. After her pilgrimage, she’d decided to settle down, put down roots. So she opened up this little clinic, serving this rural community while still making sure she wasn’t too far away from her dear friend Celica.    
  
Then again, perhaps Silque hadn’t expected just how close she and Celica would become. Or why.   
  
Faye raised her arms over her head and stretched, her back creaking. She fell back into bed with a satisfied sigh, before rolling over and burying her face in Silque’s chest. As much as she appreciated Celica giving them the royal treatment, Faye still loved staying with Silque. Her cotton nightgown was softer and warmer by far than fancy silk sheets.    
  
Faye pressed a drowsy kiss to Silque’s collarbone, trailing up her throat and leaving a peck at the corner of her smile.    
  
“You are so beautiful,” Faye whispered. “I love you.”   
  
“Careful,” Silque murmured, smiling. “You’ll make Celica jealous.”   
  
Faye glanced over her shoulder and barked out a laugh. While Silque looked like something out of a painting, the morning light gently haloing her curves, Celica was sprawled across the bed, her crimson hair a wild, tangled mane.    
  
Faye trailed her fingers up Celica’s cheek, leaning down and pressing a kiss to her hair.    
  
“I love you, too,” Faye said gently. Celica snored loudly in her face, and sent Faye and Silque into a pair of giggle fits.    
  
“Our Queen, ladies and gents…” Faye snickered.    
  
“I won’t tell if you won’t,” Silque smiled.    
  
Faye shimmied out of bed, Celica instinctively reaching after her and murmuring in protest. Silque caught Celica’s hands and shushed her, pulling her into an embrace. Faye simply looked on and smiled, warmth settling in her chest.    
  
Faye pulled on a robe and her house slippers and went downstairs, falling easily into her morning routine. She stoked the stove with firewood, picked out a pan, and started pulling ingredients out of the pantry.    
  
It wasn’t long before Silque and Celica joined her in the kitchen. Celica still had a hairbrush lodged in her mane. Faye greeted them both with a kiss, Celica taking a seat at the dining table to tame her hair, while Silque put a pot on for tea. Once Celica had won the battle against her bedhead, Faye passed her a cutting board and a handful of vegetables, and Celica started chopping.   
  
They moved together with the comfort and ease that only history could bring. Eventually, they settled in for breakfast together at Silque’s color-coded, hand-painted chairs. Vivid crimson for Celica; sunny yellow for Faye; sky blue for Silque herself.    
  
This morning, they were having omelettes three ways-- spinach and mushroom for Silque, ham and tomato for Celica, and just plain old egg and cheese for Faye.    
  
“I don’t want to go,” Celica mused, pouting.    
  
“I know,” Faye said gently. She reached out and ruffled Celica’s hair. “But you’re a Queen. You have Queen things to do. I understand.”   
  
Faye ducked out of the kitchen for a moment, returning with a well-stocked picnic basket.    
  
“Look, I even packed you some food for the road,” Faye said. “I’ll be with you, in a way.”   
  
“You should come with us,” Silque urged. “The clinic will still be here when we’re done at the castle. You don’t have to stay here alone.”   
  
“This village needs its apothecary, and I know my way around herbs,” Faye shrugged. “I’ll be okay on my own for a little bit.”   
  
Silque and Celica exchanged glances. Faye took both their hands with a squeeze.   
  
“I’ll be fine,” Faye managed a smile. “Really.”   
  
~*~   
  
“Sister Genny,” Faye said patiently, “did Silque and Celica send you here just to check on me?”   
  
“Oh, of course not!” Genny chirped. “I’m just out on a little walk with my bodyguards, and I thought we’d stop by and help cook dinner.”   
  
Faye looked over her shoulder. Yuzu, stiff as ever, was standing to attention, her hands behind her back. Est, meanwhile, was leaning on a fencepost. She raised a lazy hand and waved.   
  
Faye sighed.    
  
“Alright, well, come on in…”   
  
An hour later, Yuzu was diligently mashing potatoes while Genny was mincing onions, carrots, and herbs. Faye was getting a pan ready to begin prepping their meat stew, and Est was left to puzzle over a pound of ground lamb.    
  
“I should’ve figured you guys are into mutton, all those sheep,” Est mused, watching the meat sizzle. “Over in Macedon, we’re all about beef.”   
  
“That suits you just fine,” Yuzu said dryly. “You fight like a cow.”   
  
Est and Yuzu swatted at each other. Genny pointedly walked between them, holding up the cookbook from Novis Priory, bound by hand ages ago.    
  
“If this were made with beef, it would be cottage pie, not shepherd’s,” Genny said amicably. She brushed up against Faye, letting her read over her shoulder. “This recipe is one of Silque’s favorites.”   
  
“I suppose when you grow up on an island, you either end up loving fish, or hating it,” Faye muttered fondly.    
  
“She is  _ so sick _ of fish,” Genny giggled. “But she loves lamb! And she loves  _ you _ .”   
  
“Stop…” Faye murmured, embarrassed. “Please don’t tell me she sent you here just so I wouldn’t be alone.”   
  
Voices drifted across the room-- Est and Yuzu, carefully using a pastry bag to pipe hot mashed potatoes over their meat stew.    
  
“In my country, we eat lots of seafood,” Yuzu was explaining. “I imagine Sister Silque would not be so eager to visit.”   
  
“Oh, you gotta come to Macedon,” Est said, eager. “Nobody does barbecue like Macedon. Have you ever had wyvern?”   
  
“I have not.”   
  
“Don’t. It’s terrible. Real chewy, gamey stuff. But everybody in the barracks says they like their wyvern steak rare to sound tough.”   
  
Genny watched them go back and forth, a fond smile on her lips. When Est caught her staring, she flashed her back a lopsided grin, while Yuzu merely offered a prim, stoic nod.    
  
Faye bumped an elbow against Genny’s.   
  
“Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate the company,” Faye began. “But Genny, you’re a Saint. Surely you have better things to do than spend an evening brightening my kitchen.”   
  
“It’s no trouble,” Genny smiled. “I was a sister to Silque long before I was a saint. You’re practically family.”   
  
~*~   
  
“Hey!”   
  
Faye opened her door to a baffling cheer and an unlikely trio. Sonya and Shade strode on in, long-limbed and beaming, both of them carrying open bottles, while Saber brought up the rear, with a gift from Castle Zofia and, of course, more liquor.    
  
“Evenin’, lass,” Saber grinned, clapping a hand on her shoulder. “I come bearing a gift from the Queen. She thought your cellar could use a bottle. Or four.”   
  
“And this is an official royal visit?” Faye asked, dubious, her hands on her hips.    
  
“Sure, sure,” Saber grinned. He tugged at his collar, bearing a crooked Zofian royal seal. “I’ve got my uniform on and everything.”   
  
“Then what are they supposed to be?” Faye asked, nodding to Sonya and Shade.    
  
Saber shrugged. “Entertainment?”   
  
Faye rolled her eyes. “Alright, well, come on in…”   
  
Sonya and Shade didn’t need to be told twice. They artfully draped themselves across the living room couch, looking effortlessly elegant and entirely too fancy for Silque’s modest little cottage, while Saber brought Faye’s gifts into the kitchen.    
  
“You caught me in the middle of making dinner,” Faye said, fussing with an open pie crust.    
  
“Baking for one,” Saber shook his head. “That’s rough.”   
  
“Sh-Shut up!” Faye said, flustered. “It is not ‘rough’, it is a perfectly ordinary thing to be doing on a weeknight. What are  _ you _ doing, anyway? Running me a picnic basket in the middle of the night? You’re the captain of the Queensguard! You’re supposed to be guarding the Queen!”   
  
“And the royal family,” Saber shrugged. “So, technically, as queen consort--”   
  
“Don’t  _ call _ it that!” Faye fumed, mortified.   
  
“Take it easy, love,” Sonya cooed. “Come on. Have a drink. Take a load off.”   
  
Faye blew out a frazzled sigh. She accepted the wine glass Sonya handed her with muted thanks.    
  
“Why don’t you tell us about what you’re making?” Shade wondered.    
  
“I was trying to make a mixed berry pie with the berries I have left from this season,” Faye explained. “But I don’t know… the filling’s not quite right. It’s missing a little something.”   
  
There was a pop. Faye looked up and saw Shade wiggling a bottle of bourbon between her fingers. Faye raised a dubious eyebrow.    
  
“...Really?”   
  
“Oh, come on, kiddo,” Shade purred, as she gave the pie a nice long pour. “Where’s your sense of adventure...?”   
  
Despite her misgivings, Faye nonetheless found herself settling in for a raucous evening with the older trio. While they waited for the pie to bake, at Sonya’s urging, Faye finally kicked back and spent a night outside of her own head, wine glass in hand.    
  
“You make me sound like I’m some kind of trophy wife!” Faye chided, her cheeks warm.    
  
“I’m just saying,” Shade drawled. “There are worse gigs out there than being the kept woman to a Queen.”   
  
“Hey, hey, come on,” Saber protested. “She still works for a living, y’know. She’s got more to do than just look pretty by the light of chandeliers.”   
  
“Why should she?” Shade preened. “If Celica wants to spoil her silly,  _ I _ say she should let her. If she plays her cards right, she can get a lot more out of the royal coffers than a few bottles of wine.”   
  
“I’m not just using Celica for her money, you know,” Faye muttered. “Our relationship is deeper than that. It’s not like she can just buy her way into my bed.”   
  
_ “Ohohoho!” _ Shade and Sonya tittered in unison. “Our girl makes the Queen  _ work _ for it!”   
  
Faye turned red. “I… I don’t mean it like  _ that _ …”   
  
“I can see it now,” Shade drawled. “Celica, in a blood-red gown, draped across the grand piano. Silque, playing her a real sizzler of a lounge tune. Celica, singing her heart out. There’s a whole crowd of sailors in this bar, but honey, she only has eyes for  _ you _ .”   
  
“What kind of nights do you think she’s having?” Saber laughed.    
  
“...I’m going to check on dessert…” Faye muttered, covering her face. She went into the kitchen, retrieving their ill-advised drunken mixed berry pie, and attempted to cut a slice.    
  
“Oh, here we go,” Shade said, invested. “I say the alcohol’s cooked off and now the filling’s a nice, thick jam!”   
  
“Yeah, and I bet it’s a soggy, bourbon-soaked mess,” Saber drawled.    
  
Faye lifted a slice of pie to the light. It was, indeed, a bourbon-soaked mess-- so much so that it left a string of fruit liquor drizzling back into the pie pan.    
  
“Gods,” Faye winced. “It’s so  _ wet _ .”   
  
“If I had a piece of silver for every time I heard that...” Sonya muttered.    
  
Shade choked on her wine. Saber thwapped Sonya on the back of the head, and together, the quartet laughed and laughed.    
  
~*~   
  
“It just seems like a little much,” Faye said with a weary fondness.    
  
Rinea took her hand with a squeeze, joining her for tea. She was perched primly on an arm of the couch, since it didn’t feel right, sitting in either Celica’s red or Silque’s sky blue chairs.    
  
“You know how they are,” Rinea said gently. “They like to pretend they’re so subtle, but then they do these big, grand gestures. But surely you realize they do these things because they care.”   
  
“I know…” Faye muttered.    
  
“It takes time, getting used to people caring,” Rinea said softly. “And it takes even longer to realize you deserve it.”   
  
Faye got up, retrieving that night’s project from the oven-- a soft, fluffy cheesecake with a blueberry swirl, like a ribbon of aurora across the night sky. Rinea lingered behind her, slowly snaking her arms around Faye’s waist and leaning her head against her shoulder. Faye found Rinea’s hand and linked their fingers together without any fuss.    
  
“I wish they wouldn’t worry so much,” Faye admitted. “It’s like they don’t trust me to be alone with my own thoughts. It’s been fun, don’t get me wrong. But I don’t need a party every night. I’m okay with being alone.”   
  
Rinea nodded, squeezing Faye’s hand.    
  
“Alone… but maybe not ‘lonely’.”   
  
Faye breathed out a sigh.    
  
“...Yeah.”   
  
Rinea spun Faye around so she was facing her, leaned up and gave her a peck on the cheek. She took Faye by the shoulders and gave her a reassuring squeeze.    
  
“We do this because we love you, Faye,” Rinea smiled. “You can have space. You can have peace and quiet. But just remember to come back up for air.”   
  
~*~   
  
“So, Faye, why the change of heart?”   
  
“Oh, I don’t know,” Faye sighed, folding a blouse and neatly tucking it into her pack. “I suppose I just realized Silque was right. The house will still be here when I get back. I don’t need to sit around and keep an eye on it.”   
  
“So you spend a week away from your girlfriends and you just couldn’t take it anymore, is that right?” Mae grinned, clapping her on the back. “Been there.”   
  
Faye swatted her away. “I can’t help but feel like this was some weird sort of test.”   
  
“For you? Or for Silque and Celica, having to endure their time apart from you?”   
  
Faye shrugged. “Both?”   
  
“Joke’s on you, sister,” Mae grinned. “If you’d just come to the castle in the first place, you guys coulda been spending this whole week painting the roof red.”   
  
“‘Town’, Mae,” Boey chided. “It’s ‘paint the town red’.”   
  
“I know what I said!” Mae insisted. She waggled an eyebrow.    
  
Faye made a face. “What exactly are you implying? What are we getting on the ceiling?”   
  
“Alright, alright, I’m not good at sayings! Gods!” Mae huffed. “Listen, sister, you should be honored. Celica could’ve sent anybody to escort you back to the castle, but who does she send? The very best!”   
  
“We’re only, like, a two hour walk from the castle,” Faye said.    
  
“Uh, yeah, and you get to spend those two hours with  _ us _ ,” Mae preened. “It’s kind of a shame we didn’t whip something up for the road, though. Silque and Celica say you’re a wizard in the kitchen.”   
  
Faye’s cheeks turned warm. “O-Oh, is that right…?”   
  
“Yeah, but you know who’s a wizard everywhere else? Me,” Mae grinned.    
  
Faye rolled her eyes. “Oh. Right.”   
  
“For example!” Mae announced, magic shimmering at her fingertips.    
  
“Oh, here she goes…” Boey muttered, bumping an elbow against Faye’s.    
  
Mae scribed a spiral glyph onto the bottom of a mixing bowl and held it up proudly, the bowl spinning on her outstretched palm.    
  
“Why do your own mixing when you can have magic do it for you?” Mae grinned.    
  
“Wouldn’t I still have to hold the whisk?” Faye wondered.    
  
“Alright, well…” Mae wiped the glyph off with her elbow and tossed the bowl over her shoulder. She scribed a new glyph on the windowsill, conjuring a cool breeze. “How do you like that, huh? No more scorching summer days! And anything coming out of the oven gets to cool down in a snap!”   
  
“And what about everyone who  _ can’t _ use magic, Mae?” Faye drawled.    
  
“Well, they’re missing out, I’ll tell ya,” Mae grinned, tracing a fire glyph in the air. “Just think about the kinds of  _ advanced techniques _ magic can bring to your kitchen.”   
  
“I don’t like where this is going,” Faye said flatly.   
  
“Seriously! Who has time to wait for things to  _ bake _ ?” Mae drew another, larger fire sigil in the air. It shone, pulsing with power. “Why bake something for 300 degrees for an hour when you can bake it at 3000 degrees for ten minutes!”   
  
“Mae, that’s not how baking works,” Faye said.    
  
Mae drew another sigil in the air, this one even larger and blazing with light.    
  
“And why stop there?” she cried with a manic grin. “Crank it up to 30,000 degrees and have it done in one minute!”   
  
_ “Mae--” _   
  
“Or just go crazy! Crank that sucker up to 300,000 degrees and be done in a  _ snap! _ ”   
  
A few hours later, Mae, Boey, and Faye were sitting in a horse-drawn cart, trudging their way down the hills to Zofia Castle. Boey was wiping soot from Mae’s face with a damp cloth, and Mae was sheepishly staring down at the floorboards.    
  
“Gee, Mae,” Faye was grumbling. “What if you could snap your fingers, blow up my kitchen, and then we spend the better part of the afternoon cleaning up the mess? Do you have a spell for that?”   
  
Mae coughed. “I, uh. I do, actually.”   
  
Boey sighed. “Please, Mae, no more bright ideas…”   
  
~*~   
  
There was a shout across the yard. Silque came running, hiking up the skirts of her habit so she could scurry across the courtyard, only catching herself at the last moment-- just in time for Faye to leap off her cart and into her arms.    
  
“Oh, I’ve missed you…” Silque cooed into Faye’s arms, pulling her into a kiss. “I trust you didn’t burn down my clinic while I was gone?”   
  
Behind them, Mae coughed.    
  
“Um. Just a little bit.” Boey dug an elbow into her ribs, and she swatted him away. “Just a little!”   
  
“You’re late,” Silque fussed, tugging Faye along by the arm. “But not to worry. All that means is you’re just in time for dinner…”   
  
Silque nudged open the doors to the great hall. The Dragonflight stood assembled, and they greeted Faye with a cheer, to Faye’s quiet bewilderment. The table was set for a feast, but there was no holiday, no grand occasion… just Faye, returning to the castle. All this, just for her.   
  
Celica welcomed Faye back with open arms, holding her tight and then pulling her into a kiss of her own. Alm lingered nearby, with a warm grin and a tip of his wine glass.    
  
“Celica!” Faye beamed. “You fixed your hair!”   
  
Celica scrunched up her face, fussing with her hair. “What’s wrong with my hair?”   
  
“Nothing, nothing,” Faye waved the thought away. “Celica, tell me you didn’t do all this just for me!”   
  
“I’m the Queen,” Celica preened. “I don’t need a reason to throw a private banquet. But even if I did, you, Faye, are someone worth celebrating.”   
  
“Celica!” Faye cried, diving into her arms. Celica squeezed her tight, before sending her on her way.    
  
“Well, go on! There’s plenty of food-- Gray and Tobin are grilling with Clair out on the balcony. Genny put together some shepherd’s pie. Silque’s favorite! We’ve got a nice salad of mixed greens grown right here on the castle grounds, we’ve got a fine batch of mixed berries and cream, Alm even baked a pie--”   
  
“Orange meringue,” Alm said proudly. “Your Nana’s recipe. I, uh, hope you don’t mind.”   
  
“Like I said, there’s plenty to eat,” Celica urged. “So sit down, relax, and for once in your life, don’t worry about the cooking.”   
  
Faye grinned. She gave Celica one last squeeze, before making her way down the banquet table, greeting her friends as she went.    
  
Celica watched her go with a fond smile, Silque sidling up beside her. Celica turned, gesturing to her head.    
  
“Silque, is there something wrong with my hair?”    
  
“What? No.”   
  
“Oh. I thought Faye said something…”   
  
Silque tittered, a hand over her mouth. She raised her glass.    
  
“To us, Celica.”   
  
“To us.”    
  
Their glasses clinked together. Down the hall, Faye turned to them, smiling like the sun. Silque took Celica’s arm and leaned into her, beaming.    
  
“It’s good to have her home.”   
  
~*~


End file.
